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The vote is a stinging rebuke of GOP leadership that paves the way for challenges to Trump’s signature economic policy

WASHINGTON—House lawmakers on Tuesday rejected an attempt by Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) to block votes on resolutions disapproving of President Trump’s tariffs—a stinging blow to his leadership that paves the way for lawmakers to potentially rebuke Trump’s signature economic policy.

The procedural step failed with 217 opposed and 214 in favor, with three Republicans joining all 214 Democrats in voting against the measure, enough to sink it in the narrowly divided chamber.

The no votes came from Republicans across the ideological GOP spectrum: centrist Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Kevin Kiley of California, as well as libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.). The vote was kept open for about an hour as leadership looked to flip votes, but none of the defectors budged. Rep. Greg Murphy (R., N.C.) didn’t vote.

The vote means that Democrats will be able to bring resolutions challenging Trump’s tariffs to the House floor, setting up a series of high-profile votes that could begin as soon as Wednesday. Though Trump could veto any measure that reaches his desk, any successful vote would be a public repudiation of his tariff policy and would likely draw a furious reaction from the White House.

“Big step forward for Americans tired of paying more because of Trump’s tariffs,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D., Wash.) after the vote.

Johnson was trying to extend a moratorium on any tariff votes in the GOP-controlled chamber. Last year, he employed a procedural maneuver to block Democrats from bringing up votes on resolutions that would invalidate the emergency declarations that underpin many of the levies. Similar resolutions against his tariffs on Canada, Brazil and other global trading partners passed the Senate with Democratic and some Republican votes last year.

The timeline on Johnson’s blocking maneuver expired this month, prompting Democrats to ready a resolution disapproving of Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which the administration says are based on a national emergency stemming from the fentanyl trade, despite little of the drug actually coming from Canada.

Johnson on Tuesday tried to block the tariff resolutions again, putting a rule on the House floor that would have prevented any votes on them until August. But he was foiled by his razor-thin majority—now just 218-214 when all lawmakers are present—and the handful of pro-free-trade Republicans who have criticized Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs and their questionable legal underpinning.

Johnson, in a brief interview, said GOP leaders postponed the scheduled vote from Tuesday afternoon to Tuesday night to give him time to work to flip Republican votes. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also met with some House members in the Capitol.

Republican leaders wanted to push the extension past the deadline of when the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the president’s authority to levy emergency tariffs. The ruling is expected by the end of June, when the court’s session ends.

“I think the sentiment is that we allow a little bit more runway for this to be worked out between the executive branch and the judicial branch, and we’ll see,” Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

Bacon listed two main reasons for his opposition: that Congress should retain its authority to levy taxes including tariffs and that these particular taxes are “generally bad policy.”

“I have a heavy heart opposing the majority here, but Republicans have opposed tariffs since WW2. I have not changed. I follow a moral compass, not a person, when it comes to key policies,” said Bacon, who is retiring at the end of this term.

Democrats could bring up resolutions challenging Trump’s tariffs as soon as Wednesday. The first will be a vote to disapprove of Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Democratic aides said this week, and could be followed by resolutions targeting tariffs against Brazil and other nations.

Though the Senate has already passed similar resolutions last year, any House-passed measures would still need to be considered by the Senate before going to the president. Congress is unlikely to have the votes to override a presidential veto.